APRIL THIRTEENTH 1995

THE ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOURTH BIRTHDAY OF CERRO NEGRO VOLCANO

Born Apr. 13, 1850

Squiers, in 1852,in a longer account than has been quoted
here, describes the birth of Cerro Negro. "On the 11th and 12th days of April, 1850,
rumbling sounds, resembling thunder, were heard in ....Leon....The sounds increased
in loudness and frequency on the night of April 12th, and occassional tremors of the
earth were felt as far away as Leon.; which, near the mountains, were quite violent....
Early on the morning of Sunday the 13th, an orifice opened at the side of the
long-extinguished volcano of Las Pilas, about twenty miles distant from Leon....
The throes of the earth.....were very severe....resembling, from the accounts of the
natives, a series of concussions....It seems that....,at first, quantities of melted
matter were ejected irregularly in every direction. This irregular discharge
continued only for a few hours, and was followed by a current of lava...... Upon
the 14th the lava stopped flowing....A series of eruptions commenced, each lasting
about three minutes, suceeded by a pause of equal duration....... accompanied by
an outburst of flame a hundred feet or more in height. Showers of red-hot stones
were also.ejected....